Femme Fatale
by Nicole Prower
Summary: In this story, we find Pennington following a serial killer who had committed murder against the revered Star Spirits, at least, most of them.Read the tale to uncover the mysterious adventure of the Femme Fatale! *Rated T for bloodshed* NEWS!I will add a chapter explaining why has SHE decided to act like that. It is up by 3/7/12!-For Lemmy Koopa is Awesome. -.-Miss Nicole Murder
1. Chapter 1

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter 1: Chase**

Whew! She is fast! I,Pennington Bumprtygard, am amid a chase. I am pursuing the very Bloody Mary replica. This lady is a murderer. She killed the revered Star Spirits, in separate, individual crimes, I remark.

I am almost there! I can step on her heels. She is panting and whining. I gasp... I take in air... I am behind her.

To think! All these gasps and pants and whines have a reason to be. It is murder. Serial murder. Bloodshed killing of those important Star Spirits. I am running through the glittering Star Road to catch the assassin of the six Star Spirits. Eldstar, Mamar, Skolar, Musckular, Klevar and Kalmar... all have fallen to the hands of the Femme Fatale.

Did you already know who was it? No? Then allow me to tell you my scarlet-dyed adventure...(listen to me, even if you guessed who was it!)

Early in the December month, I received a call of duty in my home, in Poshley Heights. I picked up the ringing phone.

"Hello, Pennington?" a voice mumbled.

"To your service,"I replied.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bumptygard... I... I am Misstar, the Star Spirit. I would like to report a murder..."

"Murder! Where?"

"At Star Heaven´s sanctuary. Muskular, the blue star, will meet you... So he guides you in the Sanctuary. You will certainly come...?"

"Yes, but tell me who is the victim."

"It is... Eldstar."


	2. Chapter 2

Femme Fatale

Chapter 2: The Fallen Leader

I strolled throughtout the Starry Way, the road to Star Heaven. I met a blue Star Spirit, Muskular, who guided me to the crime scene. It was a shiny, beautiful and sparkling place, the Star Heaven. A shame it was stained by the spilled blood.

Eldstar, an advanced-age star, lay on a puddle of his own blood. He had a knife pierced in his forehead. Creepy.

All the stars were gathering aroung the corpse. I maneuvered through the crowd to inspect the corpse.

It was clear that Eldstar was dead, although it must had been a big struggle against the murderer. I guessed that, whomever was the killer, he or she must be strong enough to pierce the knife into the skull. The forehead is very strong, and it is designed to protect the brain´s front. Probably, the assassin took advantage of Eldstar´s weakened skull, weakness that was caused by his age. Still, great force is required to do such a bloody feat.

All those thoghts fluttered on my improbably large brain, until I met the one who requested my help. A rosy star with an orange scarf appeared besides me.

"I guess you are Misstar, correct?" I asked.

"That is correct, Mr. Pennington Bumptygard. I called for your help. All of us, stars are really worried about what occured..."

"I absolutely comprehend that, of course," I said and paused for a second. "You have blood in your hands."

Misstar took a moment before answering "Sir. I found the corpse by accident. It went like this: I was walking lazily, listening to music in my Shrooompod when-I tripped on the body!"

"Show me the Shroompod!" I demanded, defying, pointing an accusing flipper to her.

"It is on my pocket, sir," she said, showing it. I was silent for a second. I knew the blood was a foreshadowing of what I expected...

"Then, please, tell me about Eldstar."

"Eldstar was depressed," she began. "He could not stop thinking on the fact that he was on his last days. As a leader, he had to chose either Kalmar or Skolar as his heir, to call it that. He considered their adulthood, for first, he thought of Muskular, considering he is young and brave. But that was the problem. He was young. Muskular had no reliable experience to account for. They say Muskular threatened Eldstar... I have a suspicion about him, to tell the truth."

"Muskular, eh? Well, thank you, Misstar," I said, as I went to search for the suspect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter 3: Cooked Starfish!**

Asking about Muskular to other stars, I found out that he was last seen in the kitchen. I walked towards the kitchen to find... a boiling kettle! Kettle? Boy, it was a pot! No, a chauldron! And the chauldron had boiling water. I turned the fire off. I did so... and a star came out of it! Water was red with blood and falling skin. It took me a whole minute to recognize Muskular.

Muskular had wildness in his eyes. He tried to speak.

"Help... the next is Skolar..."

"Who is the culprit? Who did this to you, Muskular?" I was aware that Muskular was not going to be there for long.

He mouthed: "Pink panther..."

Muskular fell back in the hot water, splashing the red liquid around the kitchen floor. He was dead_. Wait! He said who was next!_ I thought. _Skolar!_

I thought I had time to stop the crime but then.-

"YAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Too late. The "pink panther" did it again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter 4: Heavy with Knowledge**

I marked the kitchen´s doorway with "Do Not Cross" line before I left to inspect the fresher crime scene. When I walked off to the main hall, I found a crowd around the crime scene: Skolar´s study. I strutted in there, too.

"Oh, how can this happen?" I heard.

"Horrid..." someone mumbled.

I turned my head to see the remaining star spirits. Klevar had his mouth wide open. Mamar was sobbing; Kalmar closed his eyes tightly; Misstar approached me with a sad look. Shame, I was hoping she was going to give me the facts...

"Are we cursed, Mr. Bumptygard?" she asked with a lame voice.

"No, lady. No. I am sure that I will get to the bottom of this. The murderer is going to pay, I promise! But to do so, I need you to give me all the facts and details you might know..."

"I... I don´t know, sir. I heard his... cry and I came over. Then I saw the bookshelf over him..." She turned to see the crime scene, where a tall, wide and heavy wooden bookshelf had fallen over the scholar. All his dictionaries, his encyclopedias, stories, biographies, mythologies, phone directories, textbooks and other works were piling over the dead star. An incredibly heavy Spanish-English dictionary and a thick Cheep-Cheep-English wordbook were tumbled over his neck... was it his neck? Maybe his face... ? It doesn't matter. "It" was broken. That fracture, added to asphyxia, killed him. His bones and nerves were squashed. His nerves could not communicate with the brain. Result of the equation, certain death.

"What is this?" I asked in awe as I spotted valuable evidence. "A print! In the bookshelf!" I got pictures of it, I used chemicals, I did everything to get the print's shape. After an effort, I could exclaim a glad "Eureka!"

I turned to everyone else, and for everyone, I meant the Star Spirits there. All the other minor stars were gone by now. "Listen," I said, "I am taking this to analyze it at a laboratory and also, I will rest for the night. It has been a bad day. A hard day for me, a tough day for you. I will return tomorrow, but I beg do not touch anything. I repeat. Do. Not. Touch. Anything! If you do, you might get in troubles... Tell that to any star that comes to ask about the death. They must not interfere with professional investigation."

They nodded, and I left. Home is a better place to think.


	5. Chapter 5

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter V: And Calmness Died...**

I was slumbering and counting sheep when they called. In a massive confusion, I got the telephone and answered with a sleepy "Pennington speaking". I saw in my digital clock that it was 2:44 A.M. No sunshine was seen yet...

Klevar told me that Kalmar was dead. Apparently, he had been poisoned.

"Have you analyzed the print, yet?" the question was like a whopping blow on the face. I had not done the analysis. (Honestly, I was not going to spend MY time for sleeping in work...)

"Uh... yes. It seems to be... not human," I half-lied. The print was not human, certainly, but I had no clue about it...

A grunt and a plea to go to the crime scene followed. With a forced acceptance, I had to get ready to work. (*Scoff* If they paid me for this...) After getting my detective stuff, I formulated a wish to be there. I was not going to take the four-days trip to Star Heaven, correct? And so, in a blink, I was in Star Heaven´s sanctuary, in Kalmar´s room.

"I cannot believe he is dead..." Mamar whined.

Kalmar was in his bed, with drooling foam around his mouth. His dead eyes were unusually wide open. A nasty smell floated in the air. The three remaining stars were gliding in uneasiness. They had fear. They feared that they would be next. The assassin was probably there... scheming another murderous crime...

"We are doomed!" Klevar shouted.

"I bet I am next!" Misstar sobbed.

"The murderer will come and kill us!" Mamar cried.

"KEEP CALM!" I bellowed. "Go to bed, everyone. I HAVE to stay here..." I hoped that I could sleep, too... With no one else there, I proceeded to inspect the corpse.

Hello. There was Misstar´s scarf! Something fishy about her... Hmm... The blood! The print! The scarf... The PINK panther! It was...

-_Thump_!-

…Uh... What had happened?


	6. Chapter 6

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter VI: In Flagrante Delicto**

I opened the door, and I headed to the main hall. There... Misstar had strongly tied Klevar and Mamar with a rope. She had guns in her hands, and pointed at the prisioners... holding the trigger...

**BAM! BOOM!**

Both stars died immediately. I shot a rabid glare at the Pink Panther, Misstar, the serial murderer.

"You beast!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, pointing my accusing finger at her.

"I am not sure about that!" she shot back, and pointed her guns at me. I observed her, silent; in my inside, I was trembling like tasty lime jelly.

"It is over, Misstar. You are bummed. However, if you-give me the guns with no struggle- things might change for you...slightly..."

She shot. I don´t know how, being such a top shot, she missed. Crouching, I saw that she was afraid, and she suddenly threw the guns and begun running away. She was escaping!

"Not on my guard," I thought.

I set chase for her. That leads us back to the beginning!

Twisting roads and alleys are making the pursuit harder. I am not worried, though. She is giving all up. She is sitting, waiting for me. I am there, handcuffing her.

"Lady... You are now under arrest for serial murder!"

**THE END!**

**A/N: Quite short, right... But... How was it?**


	7. Chapter 6 and a half

**Femme Fatale**

**Chapter VI (½!): Why Did You Do That?**

A/N: Just an extra chapter dedicated to a certain fellow that dropped a puppy-eyed plea as a review. Lolz. I doubt it is good, but well... There you go.

Misstar, the Pink Panther, the Femme Fatale, was sitting, handcuffed and in detention at the Toad Town Police station (It had been opened at my request, due to uprising criminality). I was going to discover a motive, you know, junk for legal stuff and rights. Yeah.

"Tell me... why did you do that?" I asked, but she was not willing to speak up. I tried to make an approach gently, but she remained silent, until a few words made her open her little evil, twisted mind.

"If we find you are crazy, you will not be so strongly punished, you know..." I told her.

She sighed and spoke.

"I doubt that I am crazy, but... Eldstar was, as I have told you earlier (see chapter 2) in his last days. He had to chose who was the following Star Leader. I killed Eldstar of to be chosen as the leader faster," she said. "I knew that Muskular, Kalmar and Skolar were the three main candidates, and so, I wanted to have a chance. I chose to get them away of the picture. When the leader dies, and he has not chosen a successor, people vote for the main candidates. That is why I killed Eldstar and the other three faster than Klevar and Mamar."

"Then, why did you killed the remaining two?"

"...I am not telling that."

"Then, you might not be crazy... you will rot at prison longer and..."

"Okay! I doubt I am crazy but...(she paused) Ah, well. After all, I am going to prison. I killed Klevar and Mamar because, after killing the older stars, I thought that it was pointless to be the leader of a group of three. I mean, three? What a group! However, I know I would fit as the heir of the leadership. Oh yes, I would have been a mighty ruler...a beautiful, powerful, amazing ruler of the skies...!"

Here, she began cackling the classical and hysterical *mwahahahaha* chuckle.

I smirked, and then, spoke. "That proves that you are crazy. The leader must also guide all the minor stars, and help young ones to become great. A great leader must leave her selfishness aside for everyone´s well-being. You, depraved little star... You are not the heir of Star Heaven´s throne. I really pity you, for you are young and beautiful... What a shame."

And so, thanks to my work, the power-thirsty Femme Fatale will not try to fatally become the ruling star of our night sky, for her only dominions will be the cell where she will dwell for half an eternity.

**The End! (Seriously!)**


End file.
